www.lbministry.org
Bruce Pennington Email: bwp1977@gmail.com
Present: Flying airplanes for American Airlines. I live in Colorado Springs, Co, but am based in DFW.
Past: Grew up the oldest of 3 boys in Dallas, Texas. Dad was a roofer and agnostic. Mom worked at Sears, and took us to church. She died of pancreatic cancer when I was 15.
Decided I was allergic to land mines, booby traps, and trench foot during high school in the '70s (Viet Nam was on, and I had a draft card), so I went to the Air Force Academy and joined the Air Force. Flew KC-135's for almost 12 years and got out to fly for American Airlines.
Interests:
-- Hiking, fishing, target shooting
-- Reading: current favorites:
"Contact", CarlSagan The Gunslinger series, StephenKing "Mere Christianity", CsLewis "A Case for Christ", LeeStrobel "The Bible", NIV, God "Brief History of Time", StephenHawking "Undaunted Courage", StephenAmbrose "Wild at Heart," JohnEldredge "Equipped to Love," NormWakefield "Love and Respct," EmersonEggerichs
-- Self-diagnosed "Vidiot"; can sit in front of any video screen (movie, TV, computer) for hours on end.
-- Famous for por spellling! Got a 96 percentile in science and 20 percentile in spelling on the PSAT in Jr. High.
Even so, can you not review your spelling (before or after saving) - you recently even misspelt your own surname!
Me-in-a-nutshell: (I didn't say nut-case!) Grew up in a small east Texas Baptist church that taught that it was a sin to dance, or go "mixed bathing" (swimming). Rock music was from Satan, and my long hair (in the '70's) was a sign of the end for me. When I cornered my Scout Master on these issues, he admitted that these weren't sins, but that there were certain circumstances we can put ourselves in that make it almost impossible not to sin. Well, what they were doing was teaching lies. When I found out, it destroyed their credibility. It made a permanent mark in my mind, and I've "questioned authority" ever since. I take no man's word for it, simply because he claims to be an expert. I investigate his claims. If they prove accurate, then he starts to build some credibility. This goes for religious as well as scientific experts.
I enjoy science and had read some of Sagan's stuff. But Sagan was an evangelical Atheist. He always made an effort to convince the reader that since science would answer all our questions, we didn't need this silly idea of god. His claim seemed unscientific to me. The question of whether we needed god has nothing to do with whether god is real or not. So, I went on a quest. I threw everything out and wanted to know if god is real or not. The short of it is, that a couple of atheist-turned believers settled the matter for me. C.S.Lewis was an ancient literature professor at Cambridge who set out to prove that God did not exist, using pure logic, and proved just the opposite. Lee Strobel was the legal editor of the Chicago Tribune, in the '70s, and went to university professors in various subjects asking the usual tough questions about god, the bible, Jesus, etc., and came away with a huge stack of compelling evidence that it was all true.
My life will never be the same. I now have Meaning in my life. I have Peace, even amongst my wrecked marriage. I have fallen in love with the Maker of all that is. Mushy stuff, I know! But it's been a blast!
[I need to add a PS here - after a 5 week separation, my wife and I are now back together and working together to save our marriage. We are learning the right way to communicate and resolve conflict. It is messy and tough. Each day is a challenge. But after several years of prayer, God's timing, love and patience with us is beginning to change our hearts toward each other.]
Visit my website: {Website close. I've compiled all the essays into a book that can be found at Amazon for .99c: "Essays on Reality, God and the Meaning of Life"} to read more of my story, as well as articles I write on various subjects. Some favorites:
"I Choose - Therefore, God is"
"Sleeping Beauty, [as told by an evolutionary Sociobiologist]"
"Are All Religions True?"
"In the Context of Love"
"Evil"
"The Meaning of Life"
"Bible Contradictions -- Solved!"
"The Problem of Evolution"
"Mohammed Atta Was No Moral Relativist"
"Finding Peace in King Kong"
"God's Artwork"
"The Gang"
"Hell"
"Are We All God's Children?"
Below, you will find the "intellectual" me; the "me" of mind and reason. I will look in on this discussion for any new-comers with more questions; but, what I would like to do, now, is move to the heart of me. If you will permit me, I'd like to do this on the Programming Matters page. I have always appreciated the writings of Richard Drake, but couldn't put a finger on why. Now, I think I know. In my search for Truth and meaning, I have been dealing with issues of fact. I have found many, and have been deeply affected by their cumulative impact. In my efforts to share my findings, though, I have mostly been dealing with fact. When Richard Drake writes, you hear his heart. It is what matters. All facts are just stepping stones to the heart. Like the computers that so many people are writing for, we can become like efficient machines if we ignore the heart (Think the Tin Man, of the Wizard of Oz). If our fact-gathering never gets to our hearts, it is frivolous, a waste of our time. Like John Nash said, in A Beautiful Mind, "I have searched for logic and reason through the physical, the metaphysical, the delusional and back, and found that it is only in the context of love, that either logic or reason matter." -- Bruce Pennington
Agreed. Understanding Is Not The Goal. -- Mark Tilley
Really? Who dictates what the goal is and why should there be only one goal? Without understanding, don't you just get the blind leading the blind?
You have some good points, especially "the blind leading the blind!" My point of this discussion, found more in depth at Programming Matters, is that all of the goals we pursue only matter if done in the context of love, like John Nash said. -- Bruce Pennington
Large amounts of material from here have been moved to subsections of Bruce's page on The Adjunct, where discussions continue. like:
Is "free thinking" possible in a godless universe? see Free Thinker Oxymoron
18 Jul 07 Just a note to let folks know, that as of next month, Aug 07, I'll be taking a sabbatical to work on my marriage. I'll try to drop in periodically, but it won't be near as often as before. I'll be shutting my LBministry.org website down, as well, so the links won't be working.
I've truly been blessed by all who have spent time with me, here at C2 and on The Adjunct. I consider myself a richer man for knowing you all. You are always in my prayers, and that won't change. May God bless each of you greatly in the days to come. Your friend -- Bruce Pennington
Interesting new stuff: Sins Of The Fathers, People Are Good, Death Row, Philosophy And Science Seek Truth
See original on c2.com 